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  • The Deal With Exploding Phones
Technology Articles > Cell Phones > Others > The Deal With Exploding Phones

Whether or not there’s such a thing as bad press is debatable, but it doesn’t help a smartphone company when a device has been banned from multiple airlines due to random explosions. This is exactly what is happening across the world with Samsung phablets.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has been banned in the US on many airlines, and now the phablet has been banned in Germany, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Italy, China, and Australia.

The Problem

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has been exploding randomly all across the world. The lithium-ion battery inside of the phablet overheats causing the explosion to occur. Explosions tend to happen more often in enclosed spaces such as airplanes - the altitude also adds to the troublesome mix.

Some airlines that have added new fire containment bags to flights are sealing these bags with devices prior to flight. The UN has also called for the banning of lithium-ion battery powered smartphones and tablets on flights. The latest airlines to ban the Galaxy Note 7 means that Samsung has more negative press to clean up.

Samsung’s Reaction

Samsung’s reaction to the Note 7 explosion issue has been minimal. Some sources note that Samsung plans to rebrand the phablet as the Galaxy S8 (presumably fixing the issue with the rebrand).

This tactic might work for some people that do not know about the explosion issue, but Samsung might do better to clearly address the issue, let the public know that it is being repaired, and then release an update.

Smartphone Sales Down

All across the board with almost every smartphone manufacturer, sales are down. This is partly because people are tired of paying a great amount of money for a phone, but it’s also because few companies are inventing smartphones that are really mind-blowing.

Some claim that all the new smartphone inventions fizzled out with the death of Steve Jobs and the original iPhone (even the latest iPhone isn’t leaps ahead of the last one). While the Samsung Note 7 phablet sold relatively well (or as well as can be expected for a phablet right now), the kind of attention that the Note 7 is getting at the moment isn’t exactly what Samsung had in mind.

Are Smartphones Dead?

While most people still live in the world of smartphones and aren’t about to give up things like apps any time soon, consumers aren’t buying smartphones and phablets (or tablets) as fast as they used to.

While it doesn’t seem like people will go back to flip phones any time soon, it also doesn’t seem like most consumers are jumping to spend a ton of cash on new phones that aren’t breaking the mold. Samsung’s latest negative press only adds to the problem of consumers not running to buy new phones, but it was a problem that already existed.

If you do have a Note 7 phablet, you can expect to be banned from most flights if you intend to carry your phablet with you. If you’d like a refund or exchange, it’s a good idea to contact Samsung for more information.